The locals here like to say that the WA in Western Australia means Wait A While, a phrase they feel sums up the don't-rush-it attitude that pervades this part of the world. It is meant kindly and the relaxed nature of things here is one of the main reasons Andy Murray has again chosen to begin his Australian Open preparations at the Hopman Cup mixed‑team event, a gentle but more than effective prelude to the intensity of the first grand slam tournament of the year.

As they did 12 months ago, when they laughed and joked their way to the final, Murray and Laura Robson will represent Britain and the pair were due to take on the Italy team of Potito Starace and Francesca Schiavone in their opening round-robin match in the early hours of tomorrow morning. Each player is guaranteed at least three singles matches, a formula that worked so well for Murray last year, when only an inspired Roger Federer denied him victory in the final in Melbourne.

Murray looked tanned and fit today as he practised for the first time since his arrival yesterday, having spent December training in Florida, even forgoing a family Christmas in Dunblane to stay in Miami. It is the kind of sacrifice that Murray feels he needs to make if he is to achieve his goal of winning a grand slam title, and he seemed relaxed and content today as he discussed how he has been working more on the physical side of his game than on pure tennis.

"It was more that I didn't really play many points," he said, as he explained how he intends to make his training more scientific. "In the way a boxer does, I was doing the training first, doing all the technique things, doing basket drills and getting myself in good shape. Then obviously here it's like sparring, seeing what's going on in the matches, what you need to improve. It's not like I wasn't playing tennis, I just haven't played as many points or sets as I have done in the past."

There are some players who love nothing more than to analyse every aspect of their game, poring over statistics and examining tapes of past performances. Having eschewed that option in the past, Murray said it is one he is now seriously considering.

"A lot of the stuff on TV, even when you watch yourself, it looks so easy and you think you shouldn't have missed that shot," he said. "It's tough to be objective. I've always had good anticipation so I wouldn't look back at a match and think tactically I could have done that better, but it's something I'm going to do a bit more this year because with Miles [Maclagan, his former coach] I never really watched that much of my matches back, but it's something that I think I'm ready to do now. I think it can help, for bad things or for good things."

Since splitting with Maclagan after Wimbledon, Murray has flirted with the idea of employing a full-time coach, but last month he confirmed that he is happy with his set-up. In addition to his physical trainers, the former world No2 Alex Corretja takes care of most of the coaching duties and Dani Vallverdu, an old friend from his time as a teenager in Barcelona, doubles up as a hitting partner and someone to keep him grounded. If the right offer comes his way, Murray may yet change tack, but for now he appears well set.

"The thing was, I was always happy with the guys I was working with," he said, explaining why he felt moved to update his coaching status on his website just before Christmas. "What I've always said and I maintain, if something comes up that I would be interested in, I'd still consider it, but it's not like I was actively looking to find someone. Then I was getting quite a lot of offers and it's quite a difficult position to be in because you don't really want to offend anyone but at the same time I'm actually happy with the way things are. So I just wanted to make sure that was kind of known, so that I wasn't getting asked about it every week."

Between matches, Murray will continue to train, knowing that the more work he puts in, the better he performs. "Playing here means I've got four and a half weeks of training and I've always felt like I played better after doing long training blocks."